How to organise over-gauge cargo transport? – part I
Over-gauge transport
It is nothing more than the transport of loads exceeding the standard dimensions and/or weights specified by national and international road law and regulations on public roads.
The most frequently transported dimensions in our company include, first of all, parts of production lines, specialised machines, including agricultural machines, various types of tanks and tracked vehicles.
In the case of over-gauge/oversize transport, it is also required to have a sufficiently high insurance and specialised vehicle fleet. The most frequently used semi-trailers in the transport of large dimensions include: SEMI trailer, Tiefbett, Telesatel. It should be remembered that the transport of over-gauge cargo requires the carriers to have appropriate permits specifying the conditions of transport. Permits are issued by competent authorities (such as the District Chief or the Director of General National Roads and Motorways) by way of an administrative decision and are divided according to certain categories - there are seven types in total. The individual categories of permits specify the dimensions of the vehicle for the type of road the vehicle will travel on, the permissible axle load and the period for which the permit is issued. If the transport of over-gauge/oversized items crosses the border of our country, the consent of the Head of the Customs Office is also required. Depending on the type of transported goods, it may also be necessary to meet another requirement in the form of a Police escort for the time of transporting goods through urban areas or specialized truck pilot. However, this requirement remains at the discretion of the relevant authority to which we apply for a permit for the carriage.
Organizing over-gauge/oversized transport
With the above-mentioned information in mind, you can start to organise over-gauge/oversized transport. Having a full specification of the load with the exact specification of its weight, dimensions, value of the goods and transport conditions, we can contact relevant authorities, which, based on additional information regarding, for example, the place of loading and unloading, will establish strictly defined conditions of transport and the route. The waiting time for a document is from two to about six weeks. It should be emphasized that the lack of a permit or exceeding the permissible axle loads, vehicle dimensions and exceeding the permissible total weight of a vehicle are subject to penal sanctions in the amount of five hundred to even six thousand Polish zlotys. It is also worth knowing that regulations applicable in our country allow, in special cases, to carry out transport with vehicles with a total weight of up to 60 tons and a load length that does not exceed 30 meters. All issues covered in this article will be the subject of more detailed considerations that will appear over time in addition to the above introduction to the topic of oversized transport.